Aluminum bronze weld rod



April 16, 1957 F. E. GARRIOTT ET AL 2,789,065

ALUMINUM BRONZE WELD ROD Filed Nov. 5, 1955 uvmvrox, FRANCIS E. GARRI JOHN F. KLEMEN BY ATTORNEYS M 94PM ALUIVIINUM BRONZE WELD ROD Francis E. Garriott, West Allis, and John F. Klement,

Milwaukee, Wis., assignors to Ampco Metal, Inc., Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application November 5, 1953, Serial No. 390,372

5 Claims. (Cl. 117-207) This invention relates to weld rods and method of producing the same.

Extruded or rolled aluminum bronze rod having an aluminum content of less than 11% is comparatively ductile and may be readily cold drawn to size and fabricated into core wire for weld rods. However, an aluminum bronze having a higher aluminum content than 11% or having substantial additions of other alloying elements does not possess sulficient ductility to be successfully cold drawn to size. These higher alloy aluminum bronzes must be swaged to form a core wire, and this process is expensive and slow as compared with a cold drawing operation.

This invention is based on the concept that an extremely hard, high strength aluminum bronze weld deposit can be obtained by use of a weld rod or filler rod composed of a standard, cold drawable aluminum bronze core wire covered with a coating containing alloying metals which give to the resulting weld metal the particular higher hardness and tensile strength required.

By altering the composition and proportion of the alloying metals in the coating applied to the standard aluminum bronze core wire, any given hardness and tensile strength, within practical limits, can be obtained in the weld deposit.

In the past it has been proposed to introduce alloying metals into weld rod coatings to compensate for the loss of alloying elements during the arcing action due to oxidation, but the present invention proposes introducing hardening metals into the flux coating of an inexpensive, cold drawable aluminum bronze alloy rod to increase the hardness of the weld deposit.

The drawings furnished herewith illustrate the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the invention set forth hereinafter.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the weld rod of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the invention with parts broken away in section.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 a weld rod or electrode comprising a metal core 1 and an outer coating 2.

The core 1 is formed of an extruded or rolled aluminum bronze alloy rod which is cold drawable to size. The core, generally, may have the following compositional range:

Percent Aluminum 1-l0 Iron O- 5 Nickel Copper Balance An aluminum bronze having an aluminum content' 2,789,065 Patented Apr. 16, 1957 copper has a deposit hardness of less than Brinell and may be readily drawn to size and employed as the core wire 1. However, as the aluminum content of the alloy is increased to over 10% the hardness correspondingly increases and the drawable qualities of the alloy are reduced.

A typical example of a commercially available aluminum bronze alloy which is capable of being readily drawn to size and is suitable for use as the core 1 is as follows:

Percent Aluminum 7 Iron 2.5 Copper Balance Another example of a specific alloy having a small amount of nickel and which may be drawn, is as follows:

Percent Aluminum 7 Iron 2.5 Nickel .25 Copper Balance In order to have a core wire which is drawable and of standard composition and yet have a final weld metal composition that has higher hardness and tensile strength, metal alloying elements are employed in the coating 2. The coating consists, generally, of the usual fluxes which are compatible to the aluminum bronzes, a binder, and alloying elements which may take the form of powdered metal mixed individually with the fluxes and hinder or as a pre-alloy of the alloying metals.

The coating may be applied to the core wire by dipping, extruding, spraying, or any of the usual processes by which coatings are normally applied to the core.

The alloying elements employed in the coating depend on the particular properties desired in the weld metal.

The following elements have been successfully employed in varying amounts to provide a weld metal having various degrees of hardness and strength: copper, iron, aluminum, nickel, manganese, silicon, zinc, tin, cobalt, beryllium, vanadium and chromium.

For example, if a weld deposit is desired having the following composition:

Percent Aluminum 14 Iron 4 Nickel .35 Copper Balance a cold drawable aluminum bronze of the following composition may be employed as the core:

Sufiicient additions of aluminum, iron and nickel are mixed with the weld rod coating to increase the concentrations of these metals to the desired level in the weld deposit. The exact amount of aluminum, iron and nickel added to the coating depends on numerous factors such as, the diameter of the core, the thickness of the coating, etc. and is usually'determine'd by a trial and error process after a preliminary determination of the approximate weight relationships. Generally, the metal alloying elements may comprise up to 50% by weight of the wet coating and an excess of about 10%, by weight, of the theoretically required amount of metal additions is added to the coating to compensate for melt loss.

iQHOWiIlEfiQIQ .eonippsitions havebeen-employed to obtain the following respective weld deposits:

A1 Fe S1 Ni Cu 32.5 .Balanee 9.0 Do. 0.5 x 0.8 Do. 11.0 1 3.8 Do. 7.0 2.5 "-125 Do. no.5 no 1. 09

ground to a powdered form and mixed with thelfiux.

{I'he pre-alloy should be sufliciently refractory so -that it ,vvillibreak up easily into a proper particle size and be readily distributed throughout the coating. Copper is i--.. pmetim ssmp yedi thepraa oy g e, e, pr ra y 1 the requ sc s pr p r e T abt a st we h ,1 st t alu inum .;.b 1 e sp a i s it a d wn-to. s z The sea n p sp redvmixi -t e n v d al eta s 9 t P -all .with;the flux and-binder. Water is added to the mixture t provide he at ns wit rt q r sensi n w ableit to be applied to -thecorevvire.

The coating is then;, applied to the core wireby dipping, extruding, or any otherconyentionalprocess, and th oat n t e Pe mit d ns t a mamv t mp ra for. a short pe iod of time. After-setting, the weld rod is heated at a temperature of about 550 F for a period of. about two hours.

Fig, 3 illustrates a ,mo dified form of the invention. Iheqweld rod comprises a cold drawable aluminum bronzecorefi, similar in composition and properties to core. 1 of the first embodiment, and an aluminum; alloy sheath 4.

The cold dravvable corehas the following general composition by weight:

Percent Aluminum 1-10 Iron 0-5 Nickel 0-5 .Q pp Balanc The deposit hardness of the core 3 having the above composition is generally less than 150-Brinell and the aluminum alloy sheath serves to produce a final weld deposit hardness in excess of that of the cold drawable core.

The sheath 4 has the following general composition by weight:

Percent Aluminum Y 90400 C pper 0-5 "Silicon W .0-5 Manganese 0-2.5

Chromium 0-.3 Nickel 0-2 The sheath may be-applied to the core in any conventional manner. A very satisfactory method of application is a combined wrapping and drawing op eratioiiwhere the sheath is wrapped around the oversize core and the composite structure is drawn to size. The sheath metals may also be applied to the core by electroplating.

If the weld rod is to be employed as a consumable electrode in a welding gun oi-the like, no flux coating is required. However, a flux coating withoutthe addition of powdered metals, may be applied t o the sheath if the weldrod is robs used in otherapplications where a=:fiux coating isdesirable.

Generally a cold drawable aluminum'bronze having up t .1 l m1m t be em l e sthesqr th a deposit hardnessof less than 150 Brinell (3000 kg. load). With the use of the presentinvention the hardness of the weld deposit can be increased to over 160 Brinell and to about 300 Brinell with the metal-arc and carbon-arc -WQl iP n sss san t a t fiq-B as t-wit ne gas processes due to the increased shielding efiect H argon landphiehl y vgaspa r v The present invention provides a very convenient method o iproducing aweldQmetalhaving. ahig h hairdne ss and tensilestrength byusing a standarddrawable "corewire. ,core wire ofa stan'dard composition mayfhe employed and the cpmposition of theweld metal v.rnay ib ei varied i011 any.particular welding operatio n by merely. varying the arnount and natureof the alloying elements inthe coating.

Various rnodes ofi carrying out the invention are contemplated as within the scope oi the following claims ,w is Par ula p i Q an d t n c i t e ject matter regarded as the invention. i V

' ,We claim: i

1. A, weld rod comprising a core consistingof. about l te 10% altu'ninum, up to"5.% iron, upto 5% nickel and -the balance beingsubstantially all copper and having a deposit hardness of less than 150 Brinellpan d. aiinetal sheath applied to the outersurface of sa i d corev anaicsmprising over aluminum, up to 5 copper, 'up to 5% silicon, up to 2.5% manganese, up to .3% chromium and unto 2% nieltel, said gsheath alloying with the core during welding to produce a weld deposit having a hardness .in ss s f 1. 0 Brinsl 2. An eleetrodecomprising a core consisting of about 1 to 10%, aluminum and thebalance being substantially all copper andhaving a deposit hardnes of less than Brinell, and a coating applied tothe outer surface. of said core and having metal alloy additions therein, said alloy additions consisting of at least 90% aluminum,,up to 5% copper, up to 5% silictm, up to 2.5% manganese, up to .3% ehrornium and up to 2% nickel, said alloy additions alloying with the core during welding to produce a weld deposit having a hardness in ex cess of 16 O B rinell. I

. .W. s om ris an. a ana a ohz c consisting of about 1 to 10% aluminu m and the balance -sulastan tially all. copper and having a deposit. hardness of less than 150 Brinell under predetermined vwelding conditions, andpoating C(Jntainingnhardening additions se eted ..fr qmthetgroup-consisting of aluminum, iron and silicon;and.appliedtotheouter surface of the core, said additions,,beingrpresentuin. excess of the. amount of said hardening additions lost during the-melt and in sufii cient am unt to provide the weld rodwith a deposit hardness .of .over. 1-60 Brinell under the same welding conditions.

4.;A3Wfildl'0d comprising a core consisting of about 1 to 10% aluminum, up to 5% iron, up to 5% nickel and the halance being substantially all copper and having a filtlp S fhardness of less than ISOBrinell under predeter- ;m.i 1 1ed we ding conditions, and a flux coating applied to the, outer surfaceof said core and containingmetal hard- ;ening additions selected from the group consisting of aluminum, iron and silicon, said additions being present in excess oftthe. amount ofsaid-tnetal additions lost duranemone ing the melt and in sufiicient amount to provide the weld rod with a deposit hardness of about 300 Brinell under the same welding conditions.

5. A Weld rod comprising a core consisting of about 1 to 10% aluminum, up to 5% iron, up to 5% nickel and the balance being substantially all copper and having a deposit hardness of less than 150 Brinell under predetermined welding conditions, and a coating applied to the core and comprising fluxing material, carbonaceous material, alloy material and a binder, said alloy material comprising minor amounts of metals selected from the group consisting of iron, nickel, silicon, manganese, vanadium and chromium and the balance of said alloy material being aluminum, said alloy material being present in suficient amount to provide the weld rod with a de posit hardness of over 160 Brinell under the same welding conditions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. A WELD ROD COMPRISING A CORE CONSISTING OF ABOUT 1 TO 10% ALUMINUM, UP TO 5% IRON, UP TO 5% NICKEL AND THE BALANCE BEING SUBSTANTIALLY ALL COPPER AND HAVING A DEPOSIT HARDNESS OF LESS THAN 150 BRINELL, AND A METAL SHEATH APPLIED TO THE OUTER SURFACE OF SAID CORE AND COMPRISING OVER 90% ALUMINUM, UP TO 5% COPPER, UP TO 5% SILICON, UP TO 2.5% MANGANESE, UP T .3% CHROMIUM AND UP TO 2% NICKEL, SAID SHEATH ALLOYING WITH THE CORE DURING WELDING TO PRODUCE A WELD DEPOSIT HAHING A HARDNESS IN EXCESS OF 160 BRINELL. 